Gmail for Android update brings notification actions (updated)

Google have (finally!) updated Gmail for Android to take advantage of the the notification actions that were introduced in Jellybean last summer. Users can now reply, archive or delete directly from the notification curtain if they’re running Android 4.1 or higher. It’s a really useful feature which Google should add to other apps (like Messages!).

If you’re not lucky enough to have Jellybean, Gmail now also features faster search for those with at least ICS. This also works for offline searches.

So not a massive update, but some small, iterative improvements which make the Gmail experience on Android that little bit better.

Now, what have those Sparrow people been up all this time?!

Update

The notification you get will have either archive or delete depending on what you have set as your swipe option in settings. If you have to swipe to archive, the notification will likewise be archive, with the opposite being the case for swipe to delete.

Also, the actions only appear when the notifications are expanded. Android 4.1 users can expand notification with a two finger swipe down gesture, while those on 4.2 only need one finger to swipe.